A little history

Rob was working in training when the NVQ was invented and set up the Staffordshire Accredited Training Centre as one of about 40 Centres across the country to train Government Instructors on YTS (Youth Training Scheme) and CP (Community Programme).

He set up Rob Faulkner Associates in 1992 specialising in Assessor, Verifier, and Trainer training in both large and small organisations, and he wrote competence based VQs for several large companies involving researching and trying for himself over 100 jobs in tyre manufacturing and the same in biscuit making.

He tried to retire in 2007 but both his sons, Simon and Michael, decided to try NVQs and enjoyed the work so much that we set up A1 Assessment Ltd in 2008.

We have a wide range of friends, colleagues, and clients from a variety of backgrounds with whom we share news, rumours, and gossip so that we keep in touch with all the latest developments in the world of training and qualifications. We are actively involved in the development of qualifications with SFJ (our Awarding Organisation).

We believe that this background makes us aware of the pressures of the real world, and we make sure that our courses and assessments are based in the workplace on the needs of the specific candidates with whom we are working.

What is TAQA?

TAQA is an unofficial acronym which stands for Training, Assessment and Quality Assurance.

There is no TAQA qualification, just the the 3 separate qualifications mentioned above.

Training = 'Award in Education and Training' or 'Train The Trainer'
    (it used to be PTTLS but that has gone now)

Assessing = RQFA (CAVA) - We deliver this course

Quality Assurance = IQA - We deliver this course

I'm not very good at reading or writing, can I still be an Assessor?

Yes.

Assessing is NOT about producing perfect forms or writing wonderful essays.  Assessing is about helping someone to prove that they are competent and then persuading the rest of your team that you have made that judgement in accordance with the appropriate criteria.

You do need a basic level of literacy to be able to complete the required paperwork but we help many, many people to become Assessors even though they are dyslexic or just don't enjoy filling out paperwork.

"It's not Shakespeare" -  Simon 2010

What is the RQF?

The Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) is the latest oin a series of frameworks that started way back at the NVQ (National Vocational Qualification)

If you are looking for a Qualification to recognise your competence in a vocation (eg Construction or High Speed Traffic Management or Hairdressing) then the chances are that the qualification will be in the RQF.

Here is an Ofqual blog that doesn't quite manage to explain it

https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2015/10/01/explaining-the-rqf/

I've lost my Certificate, can you help?

Yes.   Don't Panic!

If you qualified through us in the last few years we probably have a scan of your certificate on our system and we can email that right away.



If we don't have a scan or if you want to replace the original then you need to contact the Awarding Body and give them your Name and D-o-B and pay a fee (around 40 pounds?) to have another certificate issued.

To avoid unnecessary risk to your certificate it is always worth keeping a couple of photocopies or a .PDF of it with you to hand out to Centers, IQAs and EQAs so they don't have to take your original.

Here are some links that may help...

http://www.ocr.org.uk/students/lost-or-incorrect-certificates/

http://sfjawards.com/

Is Rob really an Admiral?

No.

Rob was a Lieutenant in the Fleet Air Arm 1956 - 1960 and Flew Sea Venoms off HMS Victorious.

We call him the Admiral because of an old joke from the novels of Clive Cussler when my friend likened himself to Dirk Pitt, me (Simon) to Al Giordino and Rob to Admiral Sandecker.

Sand Decker became Faulkdecker and he has been referred to as 'The Admiral' ever since.

We like to think that if he had stayed in the Navy he would have been an Admiral :-)

Do I need to renew my qualification?

No.

Even going as far back as the original assessor qualification, the D32/33, all assessor qualifications are still valid.

If you have not been practising recently you may be asked by an IQA or EQA to carry out some CPD (Continued Professional Development) to make sure you are up-to-speed with current developments and sometimes the easiest way to complete this is to take a course like ours and obtain the latest Certificate.

If you are bring asked to re-qualify as an Assessor then ask if it would be more worthwhile training for the next level up, the IQA (Internal Quality Assurer - was Internal Verifier), as this may being other benefits as well.